Cape Cod Community College reaches the over-50 student

Friday

Cape Cod Community College in West Barnstable has received national recognition for its Plus 50 programming to address the needs of those folks.

Approximately 78 million baby boomers are rounding the corner of retirement and will be looking for what’s next.

For countless reasons, from a bad economy, entrepreneurship, or for socialization and enrichment, many baby boomers aren’t necessarily ready to retire in the traditional way.

Cape Cod Community College in West Barnstable has received national recognition for its Plus 50 programming to address the needs of those folks.

“We’ve been dealing with non-traditional students for many years. That’s largely the mission of the college,” said Susan Miller, coordinator for the Plus 50 initiative.

“The program is designed to enhance skills they have already or gain new skills for entrepreneurship, seeking a new career or doing some other type of purposeful type of work either paid or unpaid,” she said.

The college received a grant from the American Association of Community Colleges last spring that will allow it to be a mentor college for the nationwide Plus 50 program.

Miller said the college was selected as a mentor college because it has more than 20 years of directing older students back into the workforce or providing enrichment courses for that population through the Academy of Lifelong Learning.

Under the Plus 50 grant the college has embarked on a number of partnerships to enhance existing programming. The school will partner with the Academy of Lifelong Learning to develop a talent bank that will match Plus 50 students with civic and service opportunities.

The college is also working with non-profit groups in the community to partner boomers with various service projects.

Miller said there are 77 baby boomers enrolled in the nursing program.

Roslyn Burbank, 50, of Yarmouth Port is one of those boomers and says she’s a better student now than she was when she first went to college out of high school. Burbank is looking to change her career after earning a bachelor’s degree in marine science and serving in the Coast Guard for 23 years.

“I was trying to figure out what to do with myself and the only thing that really appealed to me was nursing,” she said.

“I’ll probably go on and get a bachelor’s in nursing or maybe even a master’s. If I were younger I’d be tempted to become a physicians assistant. I may still do that,” Burbank said, adding that she is really looking to start making some money again.

Burbank said she was nervous heading back to school, but she enjoys it much more now than she did when she was younger.

“The life skills you learn – not that it is easier – we just have those life skills that make it happen. It’s interesting keeping my brain active. I’m excited about it,” Burbank said.

Burbank has a daughter at Mass. Maritime Academy and a son who is a sophomore at Sturgis Charter Public School in Barnstable.

“I think especially women my age, once they see the kids are going to leave and think ‘I’m not ready just to do nothing,’ I think more women are really looking. There’s a lot of exciting possibilities out there,” Burbank said.

Miller says the college will be searching for new ways to market the Plus 50 initiative.

“One of the things that the market research has yielded is that the emphasis should be more on program than age. I can say this because I’m a baby boomer and there’s a tendency to resist anything that indicates we’re getting older,” said Miller.

“This is a time in your life where you’ve cared for other people and it’s time you do those things you’ve always wanted,” Miller said.

The Register

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